Primeira Liga champions Benfica take on current leaders Sporting CP in the Lisbon derby at the Estadio da Luz on Sunday night. 

Benfica and Sporting CP played out two entertaining 2-2 draws last season, with Joao Neves' stoppage-time equalizer rescuing a point for The Reds in the sides' last meeting at the Estádio José Alvalade in May.

The Eagles are second in the Primeira Liga table, three points behind their city rivals Sporting CP who are yet to lose a game after 10 rounds. 

Benfica's European campaign has hit a new low when the Eagles lost their fourth game in this season's Champions League proper. With four consecutive defeats, the Portuguese champions have been dumped out of the competition and can only fight to continue in the Europa League if they eventually manage to reach the third spot in Group D. 

Benfica conceded three goals in the opening 21 minutes of their trip to San Sebastian in midweek so Roger Schmidt could switch formations at the weekend. 

Roger Schmidt's side are back to their Estadio da Luz after three consecutive away games across multiple competitions, winning two of them. However, they'll be looking to claim their first home win since the narrow victory over bitter rivals FC Porto on 29 September as they lost 1-0 to Real Sociedad in the Champions League and were also held to a 1-1 draw with Casa Pia in Primeira Liga. 

The Benfica boss opted for a 3-4-3 system in the last three games (all on the road) but he could revert to a 4-2-3-1 against Sporting CP on Sunday. 

Ángel Di María recovered from a muscle injury that ruled him out of several games earlier this autumn. The Argentina veteran will be looking to score his first league goal since he bagged the winner in the 1-0 win over Porto in late-September. 

Di Maria has been doing fine in derby games this season as the Argentine winger also scored in the Portuguese Super Cup victory over FC Porto in August. Can he replicate the same efficiency against Sporting CP here? Well, Roger Schmidt will certainly need his technical ability and experience in order to end Sporting CP's unbeaten form. 

Meanwhile, Roger Schmidt confirmed that experienced Spanish left-back Juan Bernat as well as Danish right-back Alexander Bah, Turkish midfielder Orkun Kokcu and Brazilian winger David Neres are all sidelined for Benfica. 

Elsewhere, Fredrik Aursnes and summer signing David Juraasek are competing for the left-back spot as the former is expected to keep his starting place. 

Croatian forward Petar Musa could get the nod over Arthur Cabral, who started at Real Sociedad in midweek, while Casper Tengstedt may once again have to settle for a place on the bench. 

The Lions are aiming to extend their strong domestic form when they make the short trip to face arch rivals Benfica on Sunday night. They are unbeaten in the Primeira Liga this season, winning nine of their 10 matches and are deservedly sitting top of the table. 

Ruben Amorim's side continued their Europa League campaign as they claimed a hard-fought 2-1 win over a 10-man Rakow Czestochowa on Thursday night. 

Sporting CP have won four consecutive matches across multiple competitions, including their last three home games with Farense (4-2 in the League Cup), Estrela (3-2 in Primeira Liga) as well as the aforementioned victory over Rakow Czestochowa. They have conceded in all of them, however, so Ruben Amorim must tighten his backline.

A pair of Pedro Goncalves penalties either side of the break gave Sporting CP a 2-1 home victory over Rakow Czestochowa. The Polish champions were down to 10 men just 12 minutes into the game as defender Bogdan Racovitan was sent off. 

All in all, Sporting CP are yet to lose a game since a 2-1 home defeat to Atalanta on 5 October - their only defeat this season, with Ruben Amorim's side winning six of the following seven games in all competitions. 

Summer signing Viktor Gyökeres has been directly involved in 10 (six goals and four assists) goals in 9 league starts since he joined the Lisbon outfit this summer. The Swedish forward is yet to score since last month's international break, though, and will be eager to add to his tally on Sunday night. 

Ruben Amorim revealed that Hidemasa Morita recovered from an injury that ruled him out of Sporting CP's last three matches. However, it's not clear whether the Japanese midfielder will be fully fit to start so Daniel Braganca is on standby. 

Jerry St. Juste recovered from a muscle injury last month and the Dutch defender will be pushing for a start against Benfica. 

Ousmane Diomande remained an unused substitute in the midweek Europa League clash but the Ivory Coast teenager is tipped to start in a back three alongside captain Sebastián Coates and Goncalo Inacio.  

There were over 2.5 goals in each of the last five league meetings between Benfica and Sporting CP, with both sides scoring in all of them. 

Moreover, there were four or more goals scored in four of their last five league matches, but both managers could be looking for more defensive stability given the current circumstances. 

Benfica are missing several first-team players, while Sporting played four matches within 10 days and one single goal could turn out to be decisive. 

All in all, the defending champions are unbeaten in their last nine league games (winning eight of them) - since the surprise opening day 3-2 defeat at Boavista. We expect Benfica to bounce back after the Champions League fiasco and to nick a valuable win in the Lisbon derby on Sunday night.